Fate's Hands
by Ayai
Summary: A small town in Virginia was home to Alfred F. Jones, and now Arthur Kirkland. Alfred appears to be a cheerful, happy teenager, but Arthur soon learns that Alfred is not as happy and carefree as he appears to be... USUK and other pairings. Warning: contains child abuse and language. High School!AU
1. Prolouge

Hello.

My name is Arthur Darius Kirkland. I'm seventeen years old, and live in a small town in Virginia called Austinville.

When I say small town, I mean it literally, of course. The population is under 1,000, and we have a single school building for every grade, our small population not requiring anything bigger. Each grade level only has one class, so as you can imagine everyone who lived in this town was quite familiar with one another.

It's a close knit community, you can't go anywhere without seeing someone you don't know, unless they've just arrived or are simply passing through on their way to Marion, or just heading out of the state.

But, like with every small town, behind closed doors there were secrets hidden from the rest of us. I was one of the few who discovered what this terrible secret was before everyone else, but before I could do anything, the secret had reveled itself, and it was far too late for me to act on my feelings.

Before moving to America, I had lived in London with my five brothers and parents. After a traffic accident ridding us of our mother, our father took us and left the United Kingdom, desiring a fresh start in America, specifically a rural town that was barely on the map.

At first, I had been angry with him. It was such a drastic change from London, and I was still in grieving for my lost mother, making the move even harder.

Now, I'm so thankful for being placed in this town, where I still reside, finishing up my last year of high school before returning to England to attend college there. I had been planning on going to college in America ever since moving here, but now it was my turn for a fresh start, I simply had to leave this town.

Everyone else in my class were planning on attending a college near here, and were disappointed when they learned I wouldn't be with them anymore, but they had told me they understood.

I had promised that I'd never forget any of them, or any of the memories we all shared. They would stay with me for the rest of my life, the brightest and darkest moments occurring in Austinville, Virginia. I would probably never return to said place, but if I did, I was positive that I'd be greeted by the same faces from all those years ago, but some missing.

It's been three and a half years since I've came here, and in that time it became my home. I had more friends then I'd ever dreamed about having back in London. There was Kiku, who I always partnered with for projects, because our intelligence was on the same level, making getting along easy for both of us, his brother Yao, who was one of the only sane classmates I had, and so many others. I won't even get started on Francis Bonnefoy, who was a French pervert and—and I hate to refer to him as this, but this last year has proved it more than ever—a true friend.

There was one person, though, who made such a grand impact on my life. He had taken me under his wing on my first day at school, declaring that he was my new (and first) best friend. I was introduced to all of my other friends by him, and he made my school days fun.

He was my best friend, protector from the older boys who had taken to picking on me, the person I walked down the dirt roads with at night eating ice cream we bought from the corner store, the one person who was ever able to get me to fully open up and talk about my mom, and my boyfriend.

He was an amazing person. He was kind, and funny, and athletic, the kind of person who would risk themselves for a kitten trapped in a tree. He was the most popular person in the school, always the light of the party and usually completely surrounded at school. He would be there for anyone in need, no matter what their issue was. People relied on him, and he never let them down. Not only was he impossibly sweet, he was also incredibly handsome. I wasn't the only one who noticed this, girls in our and other grade levels obviously were attracted to him, and quite a few males as well. He was never good at sensing the atmosphere, so he had just smiled and laughed when girls were hanging all over him, never being able to notice their intense longing for him. At first I was jealous, but I got used to it, because I knew he'd never cheat on me. That was just how he was.

He was also a liar. He was able to flawlessly hide unwanted emotions from his face. He was full of secrets that he never wanted anyone to learn of, lest they think differently of him. He was almost constantly sad, or scared. He was constantly ashamed of himself.

This is the story of Alfred Freedom Jones, a fragile soul in the hands of fate.

His story is not a happy one, and its ending is not a good one. Turn back now if you no longer wish to hear, I understand, but I'd love it if you stayed to listen about his amazing story.

Now, I'll start from the very beginning, my first day at Austinville Learning Center.

* * *

**Prologue, END.**

**Hello, my dear readers. The world commitment is obviously not in my dictionary because I can't seem to be able to work on one fic at a time.**

**Austinville is a real place, I looked it up. Things about this town will be inaccurate, though, because 1. I don't live there, and 2. They have no website so I really can't tell what's there and Google maps sucks. From what I'm able to see, though, there's no Austinville schools of any kind, it seems they have to commute to a school that appears to be quite a distance away.**

**I gave Arthur a middle name. I had to. Darius basically means "To posses good". Well, I think it does unless the site I'm using is trolling me.**

**I might continue this, I might not, it all depends on the reception I get.**

**I'd love for you to all stick with this story till the end, and encourage me to keep writing because lack of encouragement makes me lazy :3. Yes, the ending is not happy, but MAYBEEE you'd be able to convince me to write an alternate ending that IS happy. Maybe.**

**I'm really excited about this though, the next chapter will be in Arthur's POV, as will most of the story, occasionally switching to Alfred's and MAYBE Canada's.**

_**~Ayai**_

_**I love reviews, and I hold reviewers very close to my heart. They motivate me to write, soooo, yeah :D**_


	2. Boulevard of Broken Dreams

**_I walk a lonely road  
The only one that I have ever known  
Don't know where it goes  
But it's home to me and I walk alone_**

**_I walk this empty street_**  
**_On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams_**  
**_When the city sleeps_**  
**_And I'm the only one and I walk alone_**

* * *

"Allistor! Unhand me!"

"I'm not touching you, Artie."

"_How is this not touching_!"

"I'm not touching you~."

"Allistor, stop messing with Arthur."

The scuffle occurring in the middle of the somewhat empty living room of the brand new Kirkland household ceased, two pairs of emerald green eyes rising up to meet their brothers.

Allistor frowned from his position of sitting on his younger brother's back, pushing his face into the carpet with one hand and gripping both of his wrists together in the other, holding them firmly enough so that Arthur was unable to shake himself from Allistor's hold and fight back.

"Quit being a spoilsport, Steffan." The eldest of the Kirkland boys ordered, rolling his eyes in annoyance. Despite his words, he released Arthur's wrists reluctantly and lifting himself off the smaller boy, stepping back and watching his little brother collect himself, his massive eyebrows furrowed in anger.

It took all of Arthur's self control to keep himself from attacking Allistor in hope for retaliation. Half of his mind was urging him on, but the other half—which was more sensible, while the other was currently fueled by rage—was completely against it. He sighed deeply in defeat, knowing that the most that could come out of attacking Allistor was a few prominent bruises from his brother's unforgiving fists/elbows/knees/other various body parts.

He stood up shakily, a light blush dusting his cheeks, embarrassed he'd been taken down so easily and had to let himself be rescued by Steffan. He smoothed out the wrinkles on his sweater vest, making sure he got every last one. He didn't want to look like a ruffian on his first day at his new school, after all.

Allistor ruffled Arthur's hair in a way that could be considered affection to the outside eye, but was most likely annoyance disguised into something more beautiful. Allistor's overly long nails dug into Arthur's scalp in a way that was far too forceful to be comforting in any way. Arthur winced and ducked out from under Allistor's hand, while said teenager smiled at his favorite (not that he'd ever admit it) brother.

"See, Steffan? We get along great, don't we Artie?"

Steffan rolled his eyes in disbelief, "Yeah right." His gaze flickered to the silver watch resting upon his wrist, "We should get going if we want to get there on time." His eyes darted over to Arthur, and commanded him to go fetch the rest of their family.

Arthur reluctantly complied, heading to the staircase leading to the bedrooms upstairs, where the rest of the Kirkland's resided. His father was most likely still sleeping, his bedroom on the opposite end of the hallway then everyone else's, the only room in that direction when looking from the top of the staircase.

He didn't bother going to wake up his father for work, because no matter how he tried to rouse him it would probably prove fruitless in the end. He decided to knock on the second room to the right first, more reluctant to go to the door at the very end of the hallway, not sure of what would come of it.

A light rap of his knuckles on a wooden door later revealed none other than Peter Kirkland, in full sailor garb.

Arthur could feel the tell tale signs of a headache coming on, and he closed his eyes and massaged his temples in an attempt to quell it. "Peter," he began wearily, "what do you think you're wearing?"

He answered quite bluntly, "Clothes, you British twit."

Arthur's massaging seemed to do nothing against the slight throbbing in the back of his head, this helping his irritation level rise considerably.

"How can you call me a 'British twit', when you yourself are from England?" he questioned, never being able to understand his youngest brother's logic.

Peter rolled his eyes, well aware that rolling of the eyes was a big pet peeve for Arthur, the simple motion driving him up the wall on the inside, though he appeared just slightly ticked to others.

"I'm from a barge in the English Channel," Arthur was about to voice his confusion, as he had remembered when Peter was born, _at a hospital in London_, but chose against it, hoping to spare himself from the migraine his brother's explanations would most likely lead to, "not from that polluted city you call home."

Arthur just shook his head, not even bothering to demand Peter change his impractical clothing. He spun on his heel and banged his fist into the first door when exiting the hallway, calling out as he walked past.

"We're going to leave you."

At these words, Arthur heard the unmistakable sound of a door slamming open. He glanced over his shoulder to see a pair of heads leaning out the door watching him with narrowed eyes.

One of them spoke, "Careful, Artie. If you had put a dent in our door, we'd be forced to put two dents in your face for compensation." Sean nodded at his older brother's (by about thirty seconds), Niall's, words.

Arthur sighed, wondering what he had done to deserve this.

All of his brothers (excluding Steffan it seemed, though he only recently stopped the fighting from getting too physical) seemed to hate his entire being, acting like Arthur was just a waste of space and air. Usually the only words they bothered to exchange were ones of malice, or they would choose just to ignore the boy, which was obviously not the case today.

After their mother passed, it had gotten much worse. Misdirected anger, as Steffan had told Arthur once, but Arthur ha really thought it was just hate.

Back in London, during that period between his mother's death and the move here, Arthur had never felt more alone in his entire life. Arthur was a complete mother's boy, and he had felt as if he lost his best and only friend when she died, leaving him completely alone in the world. At times he would just lie on his bed, staring hard at the picture of them on his nightstand.

It had been taken on an utterly normal day. They had all gone shopping together as a family, because Alice Kirkland had insisted on having family bonding time over picking up groceries. Alice had been looking at tomatoes with Arthur, holding two in her hands and trying to pick which one was better. Her face had been scrunched up with concentration, as she was determined in picking only the best for her large family. Arthur's father had thought she looked so amusing, he had quietly slipped his phone out of his pocket and was about to snap a quick picture to show her later when he was unfortunately caught.

Alice had noticed his small movements, and right before he had taken the picture she had dropped the tomatoes, pulling Arthur close to her and smiling for the camera. The picture had captured everything, Alice's glee at basically trolling her husband, and Arthur's immense surprise at the sudden physical contact from his mother. Her head had been resting on his shoulder, one arm wrapped around his waist and the other held up in a peace sign.

He wasn't sure how to cope with her passing. He didn't know if he should be crying and screaming like Peter, in denial like the twins had been, happy for her because she was in a better place like Steffan, or in complete shock like Allistor.

Now, Arthur had guessed numb would be the best was to describe himself during that time.

* * *

During the entire walk to school, sound had been oh so graciously provided by the twins, Peter having already run ahead, Steffan walking beside them in silence, and Allistor trailing behind by himself, not giving a shit on whether he was late or not.

Niall and Sean had been singing old Irish songs as a means of entertainment during the walk to school, as there was only one bus, which was for the students who lived such a distance away that walking would be cruel to ask of them.

They began crossing the bridge over the river, thankful that the trek was almost over with. If Arthur had owned a bicycle, he would most defiantly have been riding it to school, but he didn't own one, so he couldn't.

The late February air had chilled Arthur's skin, sending shivers down his spine every once and awhile. The others on the bridge didn't seem to be affected by the weather at all. Two girls were walking and laughing together, both wearing short sleeves and skirts, acting as if it were summer and not winter.

It appeared there was actually only a single person who had decided to wear a jacket. He was sitting on the low concrete wall that was for keeping people from carelessly falling off the edge, watching the water slowly go past below over his shoulder.

Arthur had far since grown tired of the twins off tune singing, and finally snapped at them, "Will you both just shut the hell up? You sing like a dying Frenchman."

He suddenly found himself in the middle of a twin sandwich, both of them throwing an arm around Arthur's shoulders and pulling him uncomfortable close. They basically started dragging him along with them.

The brunettes lowered their heads closer to Arthur, being forced to hunch over slightly to do so.

"You've been quite mouthy lately, Artie." Niall stated, glancing at his twin with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah Artie, what's gotten into you?" Sean agreed with his brother, shaking his head in mock confusion.

Now Arthur was unsure of whether his shivers were from the cold air, or from the identical smirks his brothers wore.

Niall, always the more vicious of the two, put the (what they most likely thought was some type of prank, not taking into consideration the danger at all) plan in motion. "You're so hot headed; you should really take some time off to _cool down_!" And with those words, they both roughly shoved Arthur into the concrete wall, his legs bending and tipping over the edge. A flash of brown caught his eye before all he could see was the morning sky above him, the pink from the sunrise morphing into blue.

Now, Arthur was a good enough swimmer to be confident that he'd be fine, and the water appeared to be deep enough that he wouldn't be injured by hitting the ground, but that didn't stop him from being frightened and shouting out as he began to fall.

Before he went completely over the edge, however, strong arms wrapped around him and pulled him back from his tipped over stance, making sure he was completely steady before releasing him.

Arthur's heart was pounding in his ears, blood and adrenaline shooting through his veins. In the distance, he could hear the twins disappointed comments and Steffan's extreme scolding as they continued on to school, not even bothering to pause and question if he was okay.

The teenager who had been sitting on the concrete wall had been the one who had saved him, and there was light worry laced into his words as he spoke to Arthur, "Dude, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for your assistance, but I really must be on my way—" Arthur glanced up from checking himself over, still in shock and checking that every body part was unscathed, his speech stopping when his eyes met with impossibly blue ones.

They seemed to draw Arthur in, giving him a sense of comfort and security. They were the exact same shade of his grandmother's, causing him to miss her terribly, as they had left her behind when they moved from London. They were lighter then the sky was, and confusion danced through them. There was something else in his facial expression, but Arthur found he couldn't place the emotions it reflected.

His skin was slightly tanned, which was strange, as it was hard to get a tan during winter, and his blonde hair was sun bleached, one strand sticking up rebelliously from its peers. He had high cheek bones, giving his cheeks a bit of pudge, causing them to look soft and squishable. Arthur had to use ever once of his will power to keep himself from acting on his impulse to pinch the boy's face.

This was when Arthur realized that he had been gaping for god knows how long at this boy, which was probably the cause of his look of confusion. Arthur tried to form words, but found it hard, as it felt like his heart was in his throat, preventing any words from exiting.

A ring of the warning bell echoed over the town, and Arthur had begun to fear being late.

He was able to stutter out another "T-Thank you." before spinning around and dashing the rest of the way to his new school, leaving behind an American with a strange look on his face in his wake.

* * *

**_I'm walking down the line  
That divides me somewhere in my mind  
On the border line  
Of the edge and where I walk alone_**

**_Read between the lines_**  
**_What's fucked up when everything's alright_**  
**_Check my vital signs_**  
**_To know I'm still alive and I walk alone_**

**_I walk alone_**  
**_I walk alone_**  
**_I walk alone_**  
**_I walk a..._**

**_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me_**  
**_My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating_**  
**_Sometimes I wish someone up there will find me_**  
**_'til then I walk alone_**

**_-Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day_**

* * *

**And that's the boring, uneventful first chapter.**

**Character Key:**

**_Allistor: Scotland_**

**_Steffan: Wales_**

**_Ireland: Niall_**

**_N. Ireland: Sean_**

**I really shouldn't have to tell you about Sealand and England.**

**I gave Arthur's mom his genderbent name, because it was the first thing that came into my head.**

**Happy Birthday Liechtenstein!~**

**I've noticed I ramble in these things, so I apologize if you're one of the few who actually read A/N and you're just like, "What the hell is she smoking?" because of my abrupt change in subjects. Like right now.**

**I'm going to Ancient City Con next week. It was kinda sudden, but I'm going. It'll be my little sister's and my Dad's first convention, so I can't wait to see how they react to the whole happy, lively atmosphere at a convention.**

**BTW. I don't own Green Day or Hetalia.**

**I really hate this chapter, but it's kinda necessary for the story, you know? Introductions suck.**

**Thank you all for the wonderful reviews~ I love you all. And thank you to all you sneaky favoriters and story alereters who didn't leave reviews~ but that's okay, I don't hold grudges over something like that, I just want feedback from everybody!**

**I don't think I'll be able to find enough songs to go with the story and stuff, so don't expect a song every chapter.**

**Also, I have a question for you guys. Would you rather have shorter chapters and faster updates ( like, each chapter 2k - 4k long and updating maybe twice a week) or long chapters and spaced out updates (like 5k - 11k chapters updating once a month. It takes me a long time to write, okay?)**

**I'm fine with either I guess.**

**Sorry for any mistakes in this chapter, I had editing and I have no beta. Let me know if you see any so I can go back and fix them.  
**

**_~Ayai_**

**_I do love reviews, they're my crack and motivation~_**


	3. Nobody's Home

_Well I couldn't tell you why she felt that way,  
He felt it every day.  
And I couldn't help him,  
I just watched him make the same mistakes again._

_What's wrong, what's wrong now?_  
_Too many, too many problems._  
_Don't know where he belongs, where he belongs._

_He wants to go home, but nobody's home.  
It's where he lies, broken inside.  
With no place to go, no place to go to dry his eyes.  
Broken inside._

* * *

-Alfred-

The high school wing was one of the shorter halls of the Austinville Learning Center; it was the only hallway that in other towns would have a separate school for. The middle school grades were mixed in with the elementary ones down the main hallway, separated from the high schoolers because a few parents had been concerned that the older children would take their close proximity to the younger kids as an excuse to pick on them.

Alfred F. Jones stood outside class 9A, his hand hesitating on the doorknob, unsure on whether to go in and be late, or to just turn around and leave the building, taking a day off for himself.

He sighed, knowing if he chose the latter he would probably end up regretting it later that night.

Austinville Learning Center's freshman class was the largest class the school has ever seen, and to keep the classrooms from getting two over crowded, they had made two classes for Alfred's year, 9A and 9B. He hadn't been pleased when he was separated from his best friend, Kiku, and his twin brother, Matthew. In fact, his whole grade was pretty pissed off about the separation, most of them having been together in the same class since Pre-K.

Separating the grade had proved to not done much, as many students still snuck out of their classroom and into the other to be around their friends, and the teachers had begun to just ignore it, having spent the last semester attempting to quell the rebellious students.

For a moment, Alfred was tempted to just not attend his class that day, and just go to 9B and chill in the back with Kiku and Matthew, that way at least he wouldn't be marked for skipping school, because the teachers of each class had a copy of the attendance sheets for the other class. But Sadiq (He was a year older than them, but was held back) would force Alfred to go back to his class, because he always felt that Alfred was hogging Kiku's attention.

He turned the doorknob carefully, his free fingers crossed in hope that Mrs. Stevens' back would be turned while he entered, to spare himself from her scolding.

Unfortunately, her back was not turned to him, as he discovered when he slipped through the small crack between the door and the frame into the classroom.

"Mr. Jones," he jumped slightly when she paused in her lesson to acknowledge his presence, "care to explain why you're tardy?"

His mind scrambled for an excuse, he couldn't just say "Because I was attacked by a horde of Tinker Toys.", because one, it wasn't true, and two, he'd probably get detention.

But what the hell has he got to lose, right?

"Well, Helen. It's actually a very complicated story, so imma just summarize it for ya. In short, I had my best dude Tony—No, Helen, don't make that face, you don't know him, he doesn't live here, but he is real, I swear—over, and he's really into all that science shit," Mrs. Stevens' face contorted with his foul use of language, she had never tolerated profanity in her classroom, though these children would always seem to forget that, "so he decided to bring all of his chemicals over to show me this cool thing he learned, because for some reason I also, am really into this science shit. And we discovered when you mix the purple goo with mud and apple juice, it explodes and reanimates the nearest object." he paused to take a breath, while inhaling listening to his classmates snickering and groaning. Alfred was thankful for once that Matthew wasn't in his class, as he would most definitely call him out on his lie, though if it wasn't plainly obvious that Alfred's excuse was in fact a lie, Mrs. Stevens would be deemed the most gullible teacher in history.

"The nearest object to our experimenting table happened to be a box of Mattie's Tinker Toys. He's quite fond of them, and wasn't real happy when they started chasing Tony and I around, and we had to break all of them." Alfred rolled his eyes and raised his hands, in a "Can you believe this?" gesture. "You'd have thought it was really funny Helen, they were all rollin' after us, and then they all formed together into this big transformer looking type thing, which is when we destroyed them.

"And that's why I was late for school. That happened this morning, actually." He finished a smiled planted on his face, hoping to just get out easy instead of getting detention.

At Mrs. Stevens' stunned silence, Alfred began to pray. "_God, I know we don't talk often anymore, but I really can't get detention again. Like, seriously. Never again. Please let her miraculously find her missing heart hiding behind her kidney or something and spare me_."

He then moved on to beg for Tony's forgiveness in using him in a lie, as the boy had passed away the year before in a chemically induced explosion in his basement. Alfred had been torn up for weeks after Tony's mother took the liberty of stopping by Alfred's house to inform him on her way out of the state with her husband, they had told him that they had called his father and told him and invited Alfred to his funeral, but the message was obviously never passed on.

Mrs. Stevens was an experienced teacher, having many, many years of experience dealing with children and teenagers of all sorts, so she could point out a blatant lie without even blinking an eye, and it appeared to her that Alfred didn't even try coming up with an excuse that sounded plausible in any way. The right thing to do would be to write him up and give him detention. But Helen Stevens knew that Alfred was a good boy, and he obviously didn't want to give the real reason as to why exactly he was tardy, and hey, she was feeling compassionate today and felt like cutting the kid some slack.

She sighed, her hand rising to touch the messy bun of graying hair at the nape of her neck, something she did by habit.

"'My alarm did not go off' would have done just fine, Mr. Jones. Take your seat." She turned her back to the call and resumed her lesson, writing on the whiteboard franticly. She always seemed to rush through lessons like if she didn't a bomb would explode, her fast pace always causing a time at the end of the day when she had covered everything that was required and she let the students entertain themselves until the bell rang.

Alfred nodded and practically skipped to his seat in the back, returning various high fives as he walked down the aisle of desks. His hands slightly stinging, he plopped into his desk at the very back of the room.

Im Yong Soo occupied to desk next to his and leaned over the space in between them towards Alfred, his odd curl bobbing lightly, "Lookie lookie, new student." He whispered, pointing in the direction of the front of the room.

Curiosity struck Alfred, as he rose in his seat slightly to get a better look. New students were an incredibly rare thing, and Alfred could only assume as to who this new person was.

His eyes caught an unruly blond mess of hair and confirmed his suspicions that it was in fact the boy from this morning. His brother's had been so cruel, trying to push him into the river, "_Didn't they know it's basically all rocks under the surface_?" he wondered, but figured probably not, seeing as they had just moved here. The kid was lucky Alfred was there; there was a large chance that he would have never exited that river after going in.

"I saw him this morning crossing the bridge; his brothers seem bat-shit crazy, dude." He whispered back, eyes darting to the front of the room hoping that Mrs. Stevens wasn't glaring at them.

Yong Soo nodded, "I heard about that, Elizabeta told me. Nice catch, man!" his voice rose a bit on the end, causing the students around them to turn around and stare at them. Yong Soo blinked at them, slightly annoyed by their obvious attempts to either eavesdrop or just their staring, "Mind your own business, da-ze!"

Lovino Vargas, a hot-headed Italian who never hesitated to pick a fight rolled his eyes, "Says the guy gossiping like a fucking girl."

Yong Soo frowned, and proceeded to taunt Lovino in Korean, resulting in the brunette becoming overly aggravated and screaming at Yong Soo.

At this point, Mrs. Stevens have had to have been deaf to not notice Lovino's screeching. Despite her age, her hearing was almost perfect.

She spun on her heel, glaring daggers at the trio with her pale blue eyes, "Lovino, Yong Soo, Alfred, detention!"

"_Shit."_

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

_Open your eyes and look outside, find the reasons why._  
_You've been rejected, and now you can't find what you left behind._  
_Be strong, be strong now. Too many, too many problems._  
_ Don't know where he belongs, where he belongs._

_ He wants to go home, but nobody's home._  
_ It's where he lies, broken inside._  
_ With no place to go, no place to go to dry his eyes._  
_ Broken inside._

_ His feelings he hides._  
_ His dreams he can't find._  
_ He's losing her mind._  
_ He's fallen behind._  
_ He can't find her place._  
_ He's losing her faith._  
_ He's fallen from grace._  
_ He's all over the place._  
_ Yeah,oh_

_ -Nobody's Home by Avril Lavinge_

* * *

** EDIT:: Not an update, but I completely fixed the format, THANK GOD. It was really bothering me.  
**

**Okay so FF's going crazy and stuff, so the format might be a little strange, bear with it pl0x.**

** So this chapter is short for two reasons. **

**1. Chapters in Alfred's point of view are always going to be short. Not this short, but chapters in Arthur's POV are going to be around the 3k mark maybe. Alfred's will usually be around 2k, but this is only 1.5k, the reason for this is,**

** 2. I have a con in less then 12 hours and I can't stand to leave a chapter half finished while I'm at a con. I have major OCD problems.(EDIT: The con was absolutely AMAZING, I'm posting videos of our hetalia shenanigans on youtube later, be sure to look them up~)  
**

**The next chapter should be out relatively soon in Arthur's POV, but It'd really help if someone just kinda occasionally PM'd me going, "YOU BETTER BE WRITING AND NOT GOOFING OFF ON YOUTUBE OR READING HOMESTUCK." **

**Or you can review.**

** Either one. **

**Normally this would be longer but since the crazy formatting issues going on, imma just leave this here. Nobody's home's lyrics were not about a guy BTW, I changed all the she's to he's to fit the situation. **

_**~Ayai **_

_**I love reviewers~**_


	4. No Love

_****_**It seems apologies are in order for my late updating. This will be explained in the A/N at the end**, **so I'll just shut up and let you read.**

* * *

_**Staring out into the world across the street  
You hate the way your life turned out to be  
He's pulling up in the driveway and you don't make a sound  
Cause you always learn to hold the things you want to say  
You're always going to be afraid**_

_**There's only hate**_  
_**There's only tears**_  
_**There's only pain**_  
_**There is no love here**_  
_**Oh so what will you do?**_  
_**There's only lies**_  
_**There's only fears**_  
_**There's only pain**_  
_**There is no love here**_

* * *

"_Gits. The whole lot of them." _Arthur stifled a groan at the trio in the back, Mrs. Stevens finally catching wind of their dispute and distributing the proper punishment.

Now, Arthur's tolerance for attention seeking buffoons are exceptionally low, and he particularly couldn't stand individuals who didn't care about there education to such an extent that they start disrupting the other students around them, that actually _want_ to learn.

He had tried to ignore their whispers, but they had been overly loud, more murmurs then anything. When that Italian had joined the conversation and began screaming, Arthur had almost snapped his pencil in half, already incredibly irritated by the noise in the back. He had spun around in his chair to glare at the three and tell them to shut the hell up, but Mrs. Stevens had beaten him to it, thankfully.

"Lovino, Yong Soo, Alfred, detention!" she had shouted, her gaze fixated on the three, annoyance flittering in her eyes.

Arthur sighed, attempting to calm himself, "_Alfred, huh,_" he thought, his eyes making their way back over his shoulder, resting on the blonde American, "_so that's his name_."

He cursed himself slightly, now appalled by his earlier behavior looking back. Alfred had saved him from plummeting into the freezing water, and Arthur's thanks had not been sufficient. He silently vowed to apologize at the first chance that presented itself.

The Italian, Lovino, was the first to try and escape detention, "What the hell? They fucking started it! Why should I get punished because of those two dumbasses?"

Mrs. Stevens narrowed her eyes, "Lovino, you know I do not tolerate that kind of language in my classroom. Out."

Lovino's mouth popped open, amber eyes glaring at his teacher; he struggled for words, but instead decided to just go with it. He rose from his seat and walked down the aisle of desks, his eyes never breaking contact with Mrs. Stevens'.

Passing her, Lovino groaned, "Fuck this, I have better things to do then listen to some old bat try and teach me about fuckin' _history_."

Mrs. Stevens' eyes widened at the insult, shocked beyond words. Yes, Lovino had always been mouthy, but he had never downright _insulted_ her. The squeaking of the old door being swung open made her recover herself, addressing Lovino before he could escape.

"I'll be calling your grandfather tonight."

Lovino looked back over his shoulder and rolled his eyes, "Fine, call _Nonno,_ see if I give a shit." And with that, he disappeared out of the door. Arthur assumed that he was going to the sister class, 9B. Upon arriving that morning, one of his new classmates, Elizabeta, had explained to him how the school operated, including the tidbit about their class being too large for just one room. She had then decided to open her bag and pull some gay porn _("No, what was it that she called it? Yaomi. That's what it was.") _out and show Arthur how much he looked like one of the characters.

Arthur had decided that he didn't really like Elizabeta after that.

.:.:.:.:.

Lunch for classes 9A and 9B came entirely too early, if you ask Arthur. In his opinion, lunch was preferably held around, 11:30, or noon. The school, however, liked 10:25 as lunch time for the ninth graders.

Now, it was a universal understanding that cafeteria food is the spawn of the devil himself, and the frozen food that was to be delivered to the kitchen staff once every week coincidentally also happened to be the exact same food that was delivered to prisons across the country. These two fact had driven most students to get up even earlier than usual to make their own lunches for themselves, rather than putting their lives in the incompetent hands of the lunch ladies, who most assumed that the school had just hired random people off the streets, not caring if they could cook or have the ability to read the instructions on the boxes.

Others who found themselves unable to make their own lunches, and couldn't stand the gnawing hunger presented only a few hours after the first bell rang, were subjected to the horrible cooking, always poking at the food with a strange appearance on their styrofoam lunch trays, crossing their fingers in hope that the substance wouldn't try and crawl off the table and escape to the safe haven that was under the vending machine.

Arthur had chosen to sit in the far corner of the relatively small cafeteria, at a lonesome appearing circular table. He hadn't been able to comprehend why the table hadn't already been filled, as it appeared to be in a good spot next to the floor-to-ceiling windows, letting the late morning sun fill the room with its warmth.

A small metal lunch box sat in front of him, decorated with the Union Jack on the front and back. He had yet to open the container, not exactly keen on eating, as it was too early for lunch and he was not yet hungry. Yes, he could have forced himself to eat it, but he felt that would be quite contradictory, as you were supposed to eat when you felt hungry in order to survive, not just eating whenever you feel like it because you're _bored_.

The small hairs on the back of Arthur's neck stood on end, aware of the stares of his peers. Lunch time had always seemed like a trial of some sort, who you sat with defined you as a person. The cliques became the most obvious in this time, the populars all squeezed into a single table, while surrounding them were the either wanna-be's, or the I-couldn't-care-lessers. Arthur knew that sitting by himself was social suicide, and as much as it made him want to throw up, he knew he'd have to find some sort of companion to spare himself from the sneers and snarky remarks he was sure to come into contact with in the very near future.

The cafeteria door had swung open, and in walked none other than the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Alfred Jones.

"_The first chance has presented itself, Arthur. Are you going to act on it_?" he questioned himself, his vision never leaving Alfred's form. Others in the cafeteria had turned around in their chairs, greeting Alfred with smiles and jokes, beckoning him over to the table full of populars.

The American grinned, beginning the walk to his peers, to the table and people that defined his high school reputation. Anyone who was in school knew that whoever you sat with during lunch would probably set your reputation, whether or not you were like the others at the table or just didn't care and sat anywhere. Sitting with the smart kids would get you grouped with them, as a snotty, stuck-up geek, you (attempt to) sit with the druggies; it would be assumed that they either were one of their smoking buddies or their supplier. It's that way with every table and clique, it's impossible to dabble in every area. You're shunted in one and you stick with it, intermingling between cliques seems frowned upon. You never see one of the in-crowd hanging out with a Goth; you converse solely with your peers in your clique.

Arthur had his own clique. He was never invited to sit at a table with a group of people, and even if he was, he'd much rather sit by himself then with a bunch of buffoons who thought his accent made him absolutely brilliant (which he was), magical (which he also (believed he) was), and have awful teeth (which he didn't). The last stereotype had always been a sore spot for the Briton, not all British people had bad teeth! Why was that so hard for others—typically Americans—to understand? His clique had no name, but was just referred to as 'Arthur'. He never fit into the standards of the other cliques, so he was never grouped with one by an individual.

Before Arthur could back down on his word, he rose from the shitty chair the school provided, the feet of the chair scraping loudly against the dirtied tile, though no one particularly noticed or cared.

Seeing as the cafeteria was a small size, Arthur closed the distance between Alfred and him with relative ease and quickness, only a span of a few seconds from when he rose from his seat to when he stopped in front of the object of his attention.

Alfred's baby blues widened as his gaze lowered to Arthur, standing quite a few inches shorter than him. It was obvious to Arthur that Alfred had made the connection that Arthur was the same person from this morning. Contrary to Arthur's prior expectations, the cafeteria did not fall silent when he halted Alfred, the volume level had stayed relatively the same except the occasional, "Hey, look, new kid!" ringing about above the crowd.

Arthur held his hand out in a friendly gesture, having to remind himself mentally that's exactly how he was supposed to be appearing. Friendly. His normally harsh nature would surely be a turn off for everyone at this new school, much like his own, and if he wanted to survive the rest of his time here, he couldn't be himself.

"_Wow, that sounded really bad."_ Arthur cringed mentally. "_Come on, Arthur; let's not fight with the popular kid right off the bat_."

He cleared his throat, "Hello, my name is Arthur Kirkland."

Alfred blinked, his head tilted a bit to the side as his face lit up in a smile. He slapped his hand into Arthur's shaking it violently. It took all of Arthur's willpower to not yank his hand out of this tool's hand and stalk away.

"Hey dude! I'm Alfred F. Jones. It's Alfred F. Jones, ya see. Not, Alfred Jones, but Alfred F. Jones. You can't forget the 'F'."

"_Calm, Kirkland. Show your gratitude and then you can get the hell away from this American_." Arthur forced a smile and attempted to slide out of Alfred's grip without making his need to get away too obvious.

"It's very pleasant to meet you, Alfred. I'd like to take this moment to apologize for my unacceptable behavior this morning. I was in a hurry and brushed you off before I had the chance to thank you in the correct way." Arthur spoke formally, finally able to pry his hand out of Alfred's overenthusiastic gripping and shaking.

He absentmindedly rubbed his stinging palm, his eyes lowering from Alfred's and focusing more on his shoes then anything. Alfred was wearing ripped, dirty, old Nikes. He probably thought they were his lucky running shoes, or something of the sort, is what Arthur assumed.

The tiles of the floor weren't all that clean either; they were dotted with spots of dirt and deserted food from last week. The white was stained in places, either a yellow or more of a brownish shade.

Alfred laughed a booming sound that would have echoed had the cafeteria been larger. "It's cool, Artie. Just doin' my job as the Hero of Austinville, after all!"

Arthur raised an eyebrow, "Hero of Austinville?" he said, questioning Alfred's self-appointed title. He stood a bit, before realization dawned on him and his emerald eyes narrowed. "Also, my name is _Arthur_, not Artie. I'd appreciate you calling me by my name."

Alfred rolled his eyes, sending sparks up Arthur's spine. Oh, how he _hated_ that simple motion. Alfred's smile didn't disperse with his rolling of the eyes, "Sure thing, Artiekins. And, yep. That's me. The hero!" he laughed once again, and Arthur fought the urge to scowl at the sound. It was far too loud for his tastes. "I do normal hero things, like savings cats from trees, bandaging skinned knees, saving damsels in distress. Such as yourself." He added, smirking.

Arthur's anger level flared with the use of another nickname and being referred to as a damsel.

"Arthur. Not Artie. Not Artiekins," he spat, "_Arthur_. And I'm no damsel in distress; I could take care of myself, thank you very much. You were just being a nuisance."

Alfred's expression was one of amusement, only angering Arthur further. Was this guy always like this?

"So you wanted to go swimming." It wasn't really a question, Alfred was just being rhetorical, but of course, Arthur answered.

"As a matter of fact, I did. I was feeling a bit warm, and a swim would have cooled me off nicely." Arthur huffed, and glared up at the American.

Now, Alfred wasn't stupid. He could easily tell that he was frustrating Arthur, but why stop when the fun was just starting?

"The water is pretty cold, ya know. It is winter. It'd do a shit poor job at cooling you off. More like freezing you."

"I'm used to the cold."

"You used to dying? That's what would have happened if I didn't save you."

…

"I wouldn't have died."

"Yeah, you would've."

"No, I wouldn't."

"Yep."

"No."

"Yeah."

"No."

"Ya."

"No."

"Yeppers."

"_No_."

"No."

"Yes—god dammit." Arthur cursed his own failure. Alfred's smirk was still sitting proudly on his face.

Alfred clapped Arthur on his back, his large hand resting on his shoulder, "You're interesting, Artie. I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship. We're destined to become BFFs."

And with that, Alfred threw his arm around Arthur's shoulders, dragging him to the corner of the cafeteria where an empty table resided to continue the conversation/argument, Arthur sputtering protests the entire way.

:.:.:.:.

_**Broken down like a mirror smashed to peices  
You learned the hard way to shut your mouth and smile  
If these walls could talk they would have so much to say  
Cause everytime you fight the scars are gonna heal but there never gonna go away**_

_**There's only hate**_  
_**There's only tears**_  
_**There's only pain**_  
_**There is no love here**_  
_**Oh so what will you do?**_  
_**There's only lies**_  
_**There's only fears**_  
_**There's only pain**_  
_**There is no love here**_  
_**Oh no So what will you do?**_

_**Your falling, your screaming**_  
_**Your stuck in the same old nightmare**_  
_**He's lying, your crying**_  
_**There's nothing left to salvage**_  
_**Kick the door cause this is over**_  
_**Get me out of here**_

_**(Kick the door)**_

_**There's only hate**_  
_**There's only tears**_  
_**There's only pain**_  
_**There is no love here**_  
_**Oh so what will you do?**_  
_**There's only lies**_  
_**There's only fears**_  
_**There's only pain**_  
_**There is no love here**_  
_**Tell me what will you do?**_  
_**There's only hate**_  
_**There's only tears**_  
_**There's only pain**_  
_**There is no love here.**_

_**-No Love by Simple Plan**_

* * *

_****_**QUICK NOTE BEFORE I BEGIN MY RANT. I have recently been informed that the name I chose for one of Arthur's brothers, Niall, is actually the name of someone in the band ONE DIRECTION. Had I known this, I probably wouldn't have chosen that name. **

**Okay reasons for not updating.  
**

**1. I've been pretty busy. School started up and I have to keep up my grades if I still want to go to conventions. I also got a new kitten, I wanted to name him Karkat, but I wasn't allowed to so I named him Hamlet.  
**

**2. After Con Blues hit me hard and I really just didn't want to update. Speaking of conventions, AWA is approaching fast so I'm trying to get everything in order for that and it takes some time.  
**

**3. Homestuck. It's taken me over. I ship Karezi. Hard. There isn't enough fanfics about them :( So I'll probably write a bunch of Karezi sadstuck fics, so if you like Homestuck look out for them :D  
**

**4. I didn't have motivation for a while, but some of your reviews got me into gear and made me finish this chapter. I'd like the thank those of you reviewed telling me to hurry my ass up xD And my friend in rl, GerIta189, for telling me I needed to update. I DID.  
**

**So as you may know, I don't reply to most reviews. BECAUSE. What am I supposed to say? It feels awkward to me so I don't usually respond to reviews unless there's feedback or a question.  
**

**Regarding the songs, the songs are all about Alfred, mostly. They're basically from his point of view and his thoughts.  
**

**This chapter was originally going to be longer, but my power was out for a long time today so I wasn't able to write more, so the ending part for this chapter is just going to be the first part of the next one.  
**

**Blahh, let's talk about Ancient City Con. It was amazing guys :3. I had sooo much fun. I was Casual!Romano because I still have YET to obtain my cosplay, and I'm running out of time~ But we played a lot of shit, like Spin the Bottle, Truth or Dare, Spin the Bottle again, Duck Duck Goose, and Ride that Mustang xD you can look it up on youtube and you'll be able to find some videos.  
**

**My AO3 account will be up soon under this same name, so keep a lookout on my account over there, because the updates may be on there before here.  
**

**So I've gotten some great reception for this fic already, and we're only 3 chapters in, so I'd like to say, THANK YOU ALL FOR FAVORITING, ALERTING, REVIEWING, and whatnot. I love you allllllllll :D I'd make a heart but FF doesn't like hearts.  
**

**I guess I won't waste anymore time with this. Ciao.  
**

_**~Ayai  
**_

**_Reviews mean the world to me and make me update faster~_  
**


	5. Hero

**Oh, wow. I apologize.  
**

**Neko Romano 14: Sweetheart, if you're going to ask a question, please make sure your PM's are turned on next time.  
**

**So, good news and bad news. Read the A/N.  
**

* * *

_I'm just a step away  
I'm just a breath away  
Losin' my faith today  
(Fallin' off the edge today)_

_I am just a man_  
_Not superhuman_  
_(I'm not superhuman)_  
_Someone save me from the hate_

_It's just another war_  
_Just another family torn_  
_(Falling from my faith today)_  
_Just a step from the edge_  
_Just another day in the world we live_

_I need a hero to save me now_  
_I need a hero_

_I need a hero to save my life  
A hero'll save me _

* * *

The remainder of the school day was relatively uneventful. Sure, Alfred had trailed behind Arthur after lunch like a lost puppy, babbling away while Arthur tried his hardest to ignore him, though his resolve was weak and he almost always ended up replying to Alfred's idiotic comments.

Alfred had attempted to claim the seat next to Arthur's once reentering the classroom, but thankfully the original owner of that seat, a Scandinavian boy with a cool blue gaze, shot down Alfred's offer of switching desks.

Rather than find Alfred's hyperactivity and friendliness as endearing, it agitated Arthur more than anything. This annoyance caused Arthur's patience to be relatively short, resulting in the Briton snapping at the American when Alfred refused to return to his seat in the back, instead opting for towering above Lukas and sending puppy dog eyes down at him. Lukas, much like Arthur, had built a barrier to pouting, and Alfred's blatant visual attacks had no effect on him.

After Arthur successfully scolded Alfred about being rude and selfish, he reluctantly complied and trudged toward his desk in the back. Though he appeared upset, only a minute after the lesson started up from where it was left off for lunch break, Alfred's stifled laughter could be heard from the back, where a simple turn of the head would reveal Alfred and Yong Soo with their heads hung over, figures trembling from trying to contain they're laughter. Yong Soo had started slapping his desk in what seemed to be an attempt to collect himself. Of course, this failed and he ended up slipping out of his chair and onto the floor, letting out a huff and a curse when he hit the ground, only making Alfred laugh louder.

It was about this time they were both banished to the class 9B, much like Lovino that morning.

After they were gone, the remainder of the day was simple, as a normal school day should be. Arthur had begun to dread every day starting out as this one had, with constant disruptions screwing up his thought process before they were put a stop to.

A shrill bell dismissed the school, and Arthur was pushed along the hallway with the other students. The jostling was becoming incredibly uncomfortable, and he began to wonder how to hallway was so crowded in such a small town. Maybe it was just a thin hallway and Arthur hadn't noticed it before?

Arthur shook the though from his head. That was highly unlikely, as Arthur would have never missed that detail.

Roughly shoved out the open double doors of the school, Arthur's bright green eyes immediately narrowed, as they had not been given any time to adjust to the harsh rays of sunlight.

The front of the Center could use a _lot_ of work. The grass was dead, the flowers long wilted, no one had bothered to rake up the leaves that had fallen last fall, and bits of trash could be seen littered about. Arthur sighed; this school really needed an environmental program of some sort. Teenagers and children alike flooded out of the doors behind him, each of them heading home to their families, or rushing around attempting the find their friends.

Rather than wait around for his brothers (Arthur most certainly did not wish for a repeat of this morning), Arthur began the respectable distanced walk home, passing the laughing, joyful children on his way down the road.

Their happiness only weighed down his mood. Deep, _deep_ down, Arthur yearned for the chance to be able to walk home with individuals he could label as his _friends_, and actually enjoy spending time with them.

A slight frown danced across Arthur's face as the though flashed through his mind. Before he could dwell on the possibility of him actually wanting companionship, though, he was interrupted by the sound of spraying gravel and wheels on pavement.

Arthur quickly swung his head to the side, fully expecting to see a hunk of metal flying his way, but was instead greeted by Alfred, who had chosen that moment to ride up to him on his skateboard. Arthur rolled his eyes, "_How predictable_." Of course, the popular kids in the movies could always skateboard, right?

"Hey British dude. Where you headin'?" Alfred spoke with a smile plastered across his face. His hair was slightly windswept from his short ride from the front of the building to slightly down the road. The chilly air had been nipping at his cheeks, leaving them a nice shade of pink, giving Alfred the illusion of a blush.

Alfred's smile had been so big, it was infectious, and it was all Arthur could do to keep a straight face, "Home." he answered simply, his head facing forward once more, and continuing his walk. It was a weak attempt at getting Alfred to leave him be, as he was fully aware that the American would not take the hint and would just follow him anyways.

Alfred slowly drifted along beside Arthur down the street, just making idle conversation. "See, Mattie's boyfriend wanted to go to the store because he ran out of bird seed, and he asked Mattie to go with him. Matthew doesn't know how to say no, ya see, so of course he just went with Gilbo, not taking me into consideration at all. He acts like I like being at home all alone." Alfred shook his head in disbelief, "Can you believe that, Artie?"

"Don't call me that, Alfred, please." Arthur said, trying to be patient with the obviously ADD teenager.

Alfred chuckled a bit, "Yeah, yeah, okay. Hey, you want a ride?"

Arthur's eyebrows narrowed. "A ride? On what?"

"My skateboard, of course! I can give you a lift home, walkin' all that way seems a bit tiring."

One look Arthur sent Alfred's way told him that riding on a small deathtrap was not an option.

Alfred began to pout a bit, "Come on Arthur! It's fun, I promise."

"How are we both even going to fit on that thing?" Arthur questioned doubtfully, eyeing the board with displeasure.

Alfred waved in arms around in a wild gesture that could have passed as an attempt to regain his failing balance. "You'll sit on the front, and I'll hold onto your shoulders and push!"

"That seems incredibly dangerous."

"It probably is, but you just gotta trust me man. You won't regret it."

And for some, unknown, outrageous reason, Arthur felt like he could trust Alfred to not let him break an arm.

Why? While Arthur had indeed only know him for a day, Alfred's personality just kept drawing him in, acting like a cancer, spreading through Arthur's system, threatening to overtake him completely.

It was a scary feeling, and Arthur wasn't exactly sure he liked it.

But Arthur had to take chances this time around. He didn't want to be alone anymore. No matter how much he told himself he didn't need anybody else to be happy, he really sucked at presenting an argument.

With a small hint of reluctance, Arthur gave in. "Well… Alright I guess."

Alfred's face lit up in glee, and he eagerly halted and hopped off his board, motioning for Arthur to sit. He approached the board and lowered himself onto it, with Alfred coaching him through it, "…Now just put your feet right in front of you. Don't let them slip off because we'll fall." Arthur felt the board shift as Alfred set his right foot down, and his large hands rested themselves on Arthur's shoulders, lightly gripping. "You're going to want to grab my hands, Artie."

Arthur could already feel excitement pulsing through his veins, and he placed his hands over Alfred's on his shoulders, his elbows pressed against his knees.

Arthur quickly braced himself, and Alfred started them off with one strong push. And then they were flying.

The smaller teen on front of the board's stomach dropped as they glided across the pavement, it felt as if he could fall off any second, and all he had to rely on was his hands on Alfred's and Alfred on his shoulders. Only a few more kicks and they were over the bridge, passing fellow students left and right as they flew by. Arthur had to restrain himself, or else he felt as if he might shriek from childish glee, call him crazy, but he had always dreamed of being able to fly, and he felt as if this was as close to the feeling as he was ever going to get.

Alfred's voice pushed into his ear through the wind; "Left or right?" he called out, meaning which way he would need to take at the upcoming turns.

Arthur briefly wondered where Alfred's house lay, and if he was going out of his way to take him home, "Right!" he yelled back.

The board quickly veered right, threatening to throw Arthur off, causing him to grip Alfred's hands tighter in fear. They straightened themselves out after the turn, and Arthur could see his house rapidly approaching in the distance.

Arthur hesitantly released Alfred's hand to point at his new home, knowing Alfred would get the message, and all too soon the ride was over, and Arthur was rising from the board, trying to keep his balance.

Once his was situated, his turned back to look at Alfred, "Thank you, Alfred. I hate to admit, but that was sort of… fun. In a twisted, rollercoaster ride sort of way."

Alfred shrugged, "No problem dude, anytime, really." He smiled once again, "We could do this again tomorrow. I could even pick you up and take you to school." While Arthur thought this over, he spoke again. "I won't let your brothers try and kill ya again. No one gets away with hurting my friend!"

Friend.

That word struck a chord with Arthur once again, and he just couldn't pass up experiencing that feeling of soaring once again.

"Okay."

"What?" Alfred said, clearly not expecting Arthur's answer to sound so sure.

"I said okay, you twit. Open your ears." Arthur huffed slightly, hiking his backpack further up his back. "I'll see you in the morning then."

Alfred ran a hand through his messed up hair, drawing the golden locks back and then letting them fall free.

"I'll be there. Bye Artie."

"Goodbye, Alfred."

Simultaneously both boys turned around, Arthur heading across the grass and into his home, Alfred gliding down the street once more. They were both finally left alone with their thoughts, causing each of them to wonder exactly why the area of skin that had been in contact with the others' was burning.

* * *

_I've gotta fight today_  
_ To live another day_  
_ Speakin' my mind today_  
_ (My voice will be heard today)_

_ I've gotta make a stand_  
_ But I am just a man_  
_ (I'm not superhuman)_  
_ My voice will be heard today_

_ It's just another war_  
_ Just another family torn_  
_ (My voice will be heard today)_  
_ It's just another kill_  
_ The countdown begins to destroy ourselves_

_ I need a hero to save my life_  
_ I need a hero just in time_  
_ Save me just in time_  
_ Save me just in time_

_ Who's gonna fight for what's right_  
_ Who's gonna help us survive_  
_ We're in the fight of our lives_  
_ (And we're not ready to die)_

_ Who's gonna fight for the weak_  
_ Who's gonna make 'em believe_  
_ I've got a hero (I've got a hero)_  
_ Livin' in me_

_ I'm gonna fight for what's right_  
_ Today I'm speaking my mind_  
_ And if it kills me tonight_  
_ (I will be ready to die)_

_ A hero's not afraid to give his life_  
_ A hero's gonna save me just in time_

_ I need a hero_  
_ Who's gonna fight for what's right_  
_ Who's gonna help us survive_

_ I need a hero_  
_ Who's gonna fight for the weak_  
_ Who's gonna make 'em believe_  
_ I need a hero_  
_ I need a hero_

_ A hero's gonna save me just in time_

_-Hero by Skillet_

* * *

**_Shit man. It's been a month. I'm soooo sorry :(_**

**It's not like I TRY and not update, it's like, writers block and shit. **

**The only reason I'm updating right now is because my dog died this weekend, and I've been really sad so I've been writing.  
**

**And just so you know, it's not like I've just not been writing for a month at all. Nope, I've got up three new oneshots. And I have to say, I myself enjoyed them.  
**

**So, let's start with the bad news.  
**

**Chapters are going to be shorter. Probably around this length, which is shorter then usual, by almost 1k words. This chapter as it is is almost 2k, but every chapter before this was almost 3k, sooo yeah.  
**

**Good news.  
**

**Shorter chapters = More updates.  
**

**YAY!  
**

**_IN OTHER NEWS, THIS IS IMPORTANT, FUCKING READ IT._  
**

**I got a tumblr.  
**

**Why is this important you might ask?  
**

**Well because.  
**

**This tumblr will enable me to be able to get to know you guys better, IF you should chose to follow me. If you follow me, I always follow back, just btw.  
**

**And if I get enough followers from FF who are reading this story, not only can you tell me to hurry the hell up and stop reblogging USUK and random shit, but you guys might also be able to get some sneak peaks on the upcoming chapters and you guys could ask questions about it and whatnot.  
**

**Sound good? Yes. I want you guys to follow me because I love all my readers and I want to be able to stalk your blogs :l.  
**

**No not really.  
**

**yeah really.  
**

**Oh, and Tumblr Prom is coming up, and while I already have a date, I wouldn't be opposed to taking another four...five...ten of you. There's enough Cin for everyone~!  
**

**So here's my Tumblr URL  
**

**Reilias . tumblr . com  
**

**Btw, that skateboard thing in the story? Yeah, that's fucking dangerous. Don't do it.  
**

**One of my friends did it with me on his board, and it scared the crap out of me. And it was like two in the morning and we were at a beachfront condo so there were a shit ton of scary drunk guys running around.  
**

**Sorry for the late update and the rambling.  
**

**Follow me on tumblr, for surprizes.  
**

**IF YOUR GOING TO FOLLOW ME, LET ME KNOW YOUR FROM FF. You can tag a post as "Fate's Hands", and I'll see it, because I track that tag now and there are only like two posts in it, or you can just drop me a message, in which I'll probably reward you with a witty joke and a GIF.  
**

_**~Ayai  
**_

**_I love my reviewers~_  
**


	6. The Scientist

_**Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry**  
**You don't know how lovely you are**  
**I had to find you, tell you I need you**  
**Tell you I set you apart**_

**_Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions  
Oh, let's go back to the start  
Running in circles, coming up tails  
Heads on a science apart_**

**_Nobody said it was easy  
It's such a shame for us to part  
Nobody said it was easy  
No one ever said it would be this hard__  
__Oh, take me back to the start_**_  
_

* * *

"Niall! Stop that right this second!"

"No way, Artie-kins."

"I'm being serious, give it back."

"Don't give it back."

"Wasn't planning on it, Sean."

The twin brunettes grinned at their younger brother, not needing to watch the bottle of water flying between them to catch it and throw it back the others way.

Arthur fumed silently, choosing to just glare at Niall and Sean instead of giving them the satisfaction of knowing they angered Arthur enough to make him want to lash out. The twins had been feeling quite generous today and felt like family bonding time at school would be a nice addition to the day. Family bonding time, of course consisted with trying to provoke Arthur.

The stare off battle between the three pairs of green eyes was interrupted by a loud voice with a very slight southern accent should you listen closely.

"Aw, come on dudes, give Artie his water back." Alfred plopped down next to Arthur and leaned over the table just in time to snatch the flying plastic bottle out of the air and drop it into Arthur's outstretched palms.

Arthur smirked at the disappointed looks on his brothers faces as he set the water bottle down and wiped the condensation from his hands on his jeans. "Thank you." He said politely, flipping the lid of his lunchbox open and unwrapping his turkey sandwich.

Where had the time gone? It had already been a month since Arthur's first day. Now that it was April the air was finally warming up and the students at Austinville Learning Center we're becoming impatient while waiting for summer break, which was just barely over the horizon.

Arthur found himself able to call Alfred his best friend. Every day, Alfred would always show up in front of Arthur's house to give him a ride to school in the morning, and home in the afternoon. A constant companion. This factor has improved Arthur's life, and before he met this carefree teenager, he didn't know what it felt like to have someone text you at insane hours of the night just wanting to chat about the most random thing, or someone who would voluntarily waste their own time for you. How had he lived so isolated from society before?

Arthur discovered he didn't want to just be "Arthur" anymore; he wanted to be "Arthur and his friends". His clique would no longer be just himself.

Maybe one day he would be surrounded by people like Alfred was? It was unlikely, but no longer would he be indifferent toward people harboring negative feelings toward him. He was going to start making an effort to make more friends. After all, if having _one_ friend felt this good, wouldn't having a lot feel indescribable?

Alfred had even been acting as a mediator between Arthur and his brothers. He got along well with Allistor and Steffan, Peter saw him as some sort of superhero (Alfred had scaled a tree to retrieve Peter's scarf that had gotten taken away by the wind), and Niall and Sean actually _liked_ him. It was strange, no longer living in fear that one day his brothers would go to far and actually get him seriously hurt, because now they had someone to keep them in boundaries.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Did you catch the game last night?" Niall questioned, because of Alfred's influence both the twins took a serious liking to American Football.

Alfred's face lit up with one of his trademark grins, "Hell yeah! That last play was the coolest thing."

Sean replied for the both of them, "We were out of our seat the whole game. Best game they've played, even though it wasn't a game."

They were referring to the post-season practice match between a school in Marion and some other place. Sean, Niall, Allistor, and Arthur's father had all gone into town to watch the game, leaving Arthur home alone with Steffan and Peter. Alfred came over near the end of the game, though, so he and Arthur sat in front of the T.V, where a news crew was on-air covering the game, and watched the last part together.

He didn't really understand what was going on, but Alfred had fun, so it was okay.

"I kept freaking Arthur out with all of my yelling." Alfred gave him a light nudge in the side, and Arthur nodded.

Alfred blinked a bit, "Oh, Arthur! It's already been a month and I haven't shown you the best part of town yet." He gasped, "Clear your schedule, we're busting this joint!"

Arthur set his half-eaten sandwich down in confusion, about to question Alfred's choice of words when said person grabbed his hand, yanked him out of the seat, and pulled him out of the side door of the cafeteria and into the warm April air.

* * *

Arthur was by the exact same river that he had met Alfred on, only this time instead of teetering off the edge of the bridge they were both lying on the grassy bank, their feet almost inches from the flowing water.

He couldn't believe Alfred had convinced him to skip the remainder of school with only, "Come on, bro! Nothing's going on today." Especially because the only reason Alfred dragged him from the safety of the halls was because the American had wanted Arthur to try McDonalds.

There were McDonalds in London, of course, but European and American McDonalds are very different as Arthur learned when they had gotten to the only fast food restaurant in town.

Alfred had ordered them both Big Macs and then once again whisked Arthur away to the river, one of his favorite spots in the world, as if the small town boy had ever been outside of Virginia.

The grass on the bank was soft; the tiny strands of green sticking up proudly as if never stepped on. While Arthur admired it, Alfred was ripping handfuls of it out of the ground, his eyes set on the lazily flowing water below.

The wrappers and boxes lay scattered around them, each one completely barren. Alfred had eaten everything Arthur couldn't. It amazed him that Alfred could eat so much without gaining a pound. The kid downed food like Arthur did books, and that was saying something.

"Well,"

Arthur drew his eyes away from the clouds, where he had been trying to find shapes in them seconds before, and turned his head toward Alfred, who had managed to rid most of the area around him from grass.

Alfred wrapped his arms around his legs, slowly rocking back and forth with a smirk on his face, "How'd you like it?"

This was a question that Arthur particularly did not want to answer.

He rolled the words around his tongue before speaking them with caution, "It… wasn't as bad as I had originally expected." He had quite enjoyed it, actually, but he was defiantly not giving Alfred the satisfaction of knowing that.

Alfred grinned at him, plopping backwards onto the ground once again.

Arthur let his eyes flutter closed. At first he had been skeptical about skipping, but now all he could do was enjoy the warm sun rays on his face. The grass was soft under him, and he could smell the flowers across the river that had just begun to bloom. They were Honeysuckles, his mother's favorite flower.

The corners of his mouth twitched upward slightly. He sure did miss her.

Arthur peeked through his eyelashes at Alfred, who had that signature smile on his face. Alfred was just pleased that he wasn't going to have to turn in the homework that he didn't do last night. Arthur's eyes traced Alfred's jaw, studying his bone structure until he reached the eyes.

The azure pools had white wisps dancing across them. It was the clouds, being reflected. Arthur wondered if you could see reflections in his own eyes. He wasn't sure they were clear enough, Alfred's were just special.

It was about this point when Arthur realized that he had once again been staring at his best friend's face. Alfred didn't seem to notice though, only shooting his arm up with his pointer finger extended.

"Arthur! Look! Doesn't that cloud kinda look like a racecar?" he questioned, tripping over his words in the excitement. It was the little things that pleased the small town boy the most, Arthur had noted.

"Well would you look at that. It sure does—"

Arthur stopped.

Gravity had pulled down the sleeve of Alfred's jacket, letting his wrist show. Seeing Alfred's wrist wasn't what made Arthur's stomach freeze, but what was on it.

Stained bandages were laced up and down his arm, wrapped tightly and secured with what looked like dollar store duck tape. They were filthy and old, probably ridden with bacteria. Peeking out from the top of the bandages was a dark, ugly, purple bruise.

Arthur feared that the cheeseburger he had just eaten was going to make a reappearance.

"What the _fuck_ is on your arm?" Arthur spit out, worry gnawing at his stomach.

Alfred hadn't mentioned any injuries, Arthur knew he was clumsy and prone to falling down stairs, but he usually lets Arthur know whenever he manages to hurt himself. Not knowing what exactly what was under the disgusting bandage and how it got there was very unsettling.

It wasn't scars or cuts was it? Alfred didn't seem to be that type, but to be honest, no one ever really did? Was Arthur's best friend cutting?

Arthur had caught the flash of unease that shot through the previously clear eyes, just upsetting the Briton even more.

The teenagers face suddenly lit up in a smile, pointing at his injured arm as if it was sprouting cotton candy. "Oh this?" he asked, rolling his eyes a bit and chuckling, "Matthew and I were playing street hockey and I might have kicked his ass too hard. He beat the shit out of me with his hockey stick."

Alfred laughed a bit. Arthur noticed his eyes were dim.

"That's all?"

"Yep! Just a sports injury." Alfred pulled himself up from the grass, shaking his sleeve back over his arm. He grabbed Arthur from under the arms and lifted him onto his feet, wrapping his arm around the smaller boy's shoulders and leading him away from the river.

Alfred chattered away happily, describing every detail of his and his twin's game with sound effect and hand motions, but Arthur just couldn't get out of his brain the image of Alfred's smile that didn't quite fit.

* * *

**_I was just guessing at numbers and figures  
Pulling the puzzles apart  
Questions of science, science and progress  
Do not speak as loud as my heart_**

**_But tell me you love me, come back and haunt me  
Oh and I rush to the start  
Running in circles, chasing our tails  
Coming back as we are_**

**_Nobody said it was easy  
Oh, it's such a shame for us to part  
Nobody said it was easy  
No one ever said it would be so hard  
I'm going back to the start_**

**_Oh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh  
Ah ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh  
Oh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh  
__Oh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh_**

**_-Coldplay, The Scientist_**

* * *

**Sorry I'm such a shitty fanfic writer sdhasdhfgsd**

**I do believe I have some explaining to do.**

**Uh I have to say my number one reason for not updating this since September was just a general lack of reviews. They're literally the only thing I'm getting out of writing this and when I get barely any it just makes me wonder why I even do it.**

**Two, yeah, homestuck**

**I've been busy with keeping the with the updates and I've been writing a lot of stuff for that fandom too**

**Three, school**

**School has been a real pain in the ass lately, and I have standardized testing tomorrow, so after that's over I should be a bit more relaxed**

**Especially now that Homestuck is on hiatus, I'll be using these next few months to refind myself and my reason for writing. Refinding myself will include hopefully rekindling my love for my first fandom, which is Hetalia, so you can expect that I'll probably start integrating myself back into Hetalia over these next few weeks.**

**I apologize for making everyone wait so long.**

**my tumblr is johnterezi . tumblr . com if there's any questions, I'll see them much faster there than here.**

_**~Ayai**_

_**Happy Late Birthday present Abster**_


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